Reward or Punishment??

Chores.  Homework.  Dinner.  Showers & baths.  Downtime.  Bedtime.  That was our night tonight.  Tonight was the night to add up points on the children's chore charts from last week.  We usually do this on Sunday evenings, but Easter took it's toll on the kids, so we waited until tonight.  If the kids earn a high enough number of points on their chart, they receive a set dollar amount for that week (ranging anywhere from a quarter to a dollar) AND a ticket from our chore bin.  These tickets include things such as alone time with Mom/Dad, an ice cream cone, the chance to pick out dinner one night, a 15 minute delay in bedtime, & having a friend stay the night, to name just a few.

Tonight there was a lot of whispering when it came time to pull tickets out of the bin.  Everyone had earned tickets, & usually they are all fighting to get their drug of choice prize.  After we put the bin away, the Boy asked me if he could use one of his tickets tomorrow after school.  I told him yes.  Then the Girl asked me the same question.  Obviously, they were up to something, but I said yes to her also.  THEN Little Boy asked, "Momma I use my ticket to you tomorrow too?"  (Great, they involved my baby too)  I told him yes; why spoil their fun now?

That's when they all showed me their tickets.  They carefully planned it so they would each pull the ticket that read, "Someone will do a chore for you".  They were being too silly to be ganging up on each other, or they didn't think that one of their own could do a chore for them, and Daddy is out of town for work this week. 

I played along.  "Who would you like to do a chore for you tomorrow?"  Of course, they said that I have to do a chore for each of them tomorrow. 

Tomorrow I will be vacuuming upstairs (the Girl's chore), vacuuming downstairs (the Boy's chore), & taking the hampers to the laundry room/sorting the laundry (Little Boy's chore).  The catch??  I can't do it while they're at school.  They want to supervise & make sure that I do it right.

Yep, they listen more often than I give them credit for.....

Personally, I would have picked the ice cream, but apparently watching Mom do chores brings greater satisfaction.